Mission

Soil is a finite resource that cannot be substituted on a large scale as a basis for food production and many other essential ecosystem services such as nutrient recycling, water purification, habitat of organisms and many more. Nonetheless, fertile soil continues to be degraded and polluted directly or indirectly through open-cast mining, deforestation, overgrazing of pasture land, over-intensive agriculture, conversion of farmland into infrastructural and building areas, waste disposal, inputs of detrimental substances released through traffic, households and industrial activities into the atmosphere and other human activities. With the human population still growing, urbanisation increasing and climate conditions changing, the protection of this essential resource is not only more urgent than ever, but is also facing completely new challenges in the future.

In response to these challenges, the mission of the Soil Protection group is to establish scientific knowledge required to sustain and manage the quality of soil as an essential basis for human and other life. This includes:

• early detection and identification of developments threatening ecological soil functions

• assessment of physical, chemical and biological stresses on soil and their impacts on soil quality and functioning

• characterisation of risks for man and environment deriving from soil pollution and degradation

• development and evaluation of counter-measures against such threats and adverse impacts and of ways for a sustainable use of soil functions